With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom management is a tricky topic. The strategies used in the middle school and the high school are similar but obviously some work in the middle school and not the high school and vice versa. One strategy I have used in both the middle and high schools is the "wait for students to notice I am waiting for them to stop talking" method. Once there are a few side conversations, I will stop talking and wait for the students to re-focus. I usually try to give a semi-annoyed look too. At this point one of two things happen: a few students will usually tell the other students who are talking to be quiet and they listen, or they continue to talk. If they are continuing to talk, then I try and finish what I am saying but pausing part way through my sentence so students get the 'hint' that I am talking and they are interrupting me. This usually works and if it doesn't then I walk over to the students who are talking [while I am still talking] and use their name in what I'm talking about [Right, Michael?]. Again if this doesn't work then I tell the students that they need to stop talking and be quiet and that we will be getting a chance to move around and talk quietly shortly. This is difficult for me because if one student continues to talk after many warnings/or they talk back in a disrespectful manner, I know I need to send the student out to the AP's office and I need to work on if I make a 'threat' that they will be thrown out, I need to follow up on it.
I also tend to feel sympathetic towards the students and say 'stick with me' and 'hang in there' to keep them focused but what I tend to forget is that they are at school to LEARN! If I am telling them 'stick with me' it puts a negative connotation on my lesson and I love what I am teaching so it makes the students become less interested in the lesson and that it could actually be very interesting. I have been trying to say things like 'lets get refocused' or 'lets get back on track' if students have become sidetracked.
I know a lot of my management techniques will become perfected over time because I will have tried numerous amounts of strategies and eventually find some things that are successful! Once I do there will be a nice flow to the classroom and a great fair, respectful relationship with my students.
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom Management has not been a major issue for my classes. I can attribute this to teaching 3 Honors level classes and 1 College Prep class who are full of students that are ready and able to learn. I take partial responsibility for keeping the students engaged and active at all times through student-centered learning, project-based learning or inquiry activities.
The extent of the issues I have dealt with is excessive talking and one particular student addressing the class with "Why do we have to do this, this is not important, it is so stupid that I have to be here."
Situation 1: Excessive Talking.
During transitions from a discussion to an activity or on occasion (Particularly on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon), students will be animated and extra chatty. I typically use a variety of techniques to nip this in the bud if it becomes disruptive.
A. Stop what I am doing, stand in silence waiting for the student to finish their conversation. Typically, one student will speak up and tell them to "shhhhhh" without me having to do a single thing.
B. I will walk around the class room during discussion and give a quick tap on the desk or on the back to stop the situation without brining any attention to the students
C. If I am in the middle of speaking or facilitating a class discussion, I will stop the chatter by asking a question to the student who is chatterig
D. I will ignore the students, talk a little louder and this appears to alarm the students
E. I am constantly moving around the classroom so I am often stopping at the group stations and asking questions about their progress to get them on track
F. At times depending on the student, I will chime in on their conversation, tell them its facinating but I expect them to only speak about biology on my watch
G. If the talking is excessive, I simply ask the class, "What is my rule?" At the beginning of teaching, I went over the rules which my most important rule was "If someone is talking, we show them respect by listening and not talking over them" ---This appears to work very quickly.
Situation 2: The student who is known for being obnoxious to most teachers and disruptive in classes "Why do I have to be here, this is stupid, I would rather take notes then do projects"
1. I announced to the class "Why do I have to be here" and turned this into a discussion about why the topic of antibiotic resistance is relevant to our lifes...his comment was a great segway.
2. After I still saw him rolling his eyes......I decided to put a bonus question on the test 2 days later which asked a series of math calculations that described "how much money a student gets paid to attend and pass my biology class"
I've been trying to start classes off with journal entries or questions of the day to get things going, and once the kids get started it works fine, but the problem is it takes a good 5 minutes to get the settled enough to start on the journal or question.
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
I have been told numerous times by my CT's that my classroom management skills are extremely good for a beginning teacher. I do believe this as well, however, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Some classroom management skills that I believe I can improve upon is "staying on topic" when students ask questions. Most of the time, I try so hard to answer a students questions that I lose valuable time in the period trying to explain myself in a more specific (and unnecessary) way. What I have tried to do to combat this problem of mine is by not answering their question IMMEDIATELY after the student asks it. I give myself a few moments to collect my thought and understand what the student is asking. Once I have formulated an answer that I am confident in I then go into my brief explanation of the question. If a student still does not understand what I am trying to explain, and I feel that we must move on with the class in order to stay on schedule, I politely ask them to see me after class for a deeper explanation. I of course give them a pass to their next period if they are late.
A second classroom management skill that I believe could use improvement in is anticipating students questions before they ask them. Sometimes I am caught off guard at the "imagination" that my 6th graders have and the creative questions that they think of (questions I would never think of in a million years!). What I have been trying to do for this is "think like a 6th grader" (as silly as that sounds). I literally go through my lesson plans trying to put myself in their place, thinking of different "unorthodox" questions that I could be asked. I then right down the questions I think of and the answers to them. Of course this is not 100% effective because the thoughts of a 6th grader can only truly be harnessed by an actual 6th grader, but it has absolutely helped me in the long run.
A classroom where classroom management problems have been "solved" is a classroom that runs extremely smoothly. Transitions into new subjects/activities are quick and with ease. Questions are answered brief and to the point. Students leave the classroom with a full knowledge of what was trying to be explained. And of course, there are NO disruptions or "down time" during the class period. However, that is in a perfect world, a world that does not exist. We as teachers strive for that perfection but will never reach it. Why? Because science is perfect. Science is meant to be messy, especially biology and thats what I love about it.
Over the past few months, I have learned a few classroom management strategies that I have found very useful to my teaching. I have also encountered some ineffective classroom management strategies.
Prevention
For starters, if the lesson isn't interesting, I can guarantee that there will be classroom management issues. I've noticed in the middle school that student engagement was crucial to encouraging positive behavior. Students did not like to be talked to about science, but rather, enjoyed a discussion of science. Soliciting their feedback on concepts and ideas is a good way to ensure that they are paying attention and not starting a paper airplane war in the back of the class. In order to succeed at this, the lesson needed to be relevant to them or at least connected to them in some way (a lot of times this is easier said than done.) It is also in the nature of the adolescent to want to move around, so I incorporated a few activities in which they got to do that. It gave them time to stretch their legs and socialize, which is very much appreciated in middle school as well as high school.
Intervention Like anything though, bad classroom behavior is bound to occur, and it might not have anything to do with your lesson. It might have to do with something that happened that morning in another class or something totally unrelated to school. The key here is to create as little disturbance as possible. Steps that I chose to use for intervention were:
1.) Eye contact - I let the student know I was aware of their behavior and it was consider a warning for them to stop.
2.) Proximity - If the issue continued I would move closer to the student or students to signal that I did not appreciate them interrupting the lesson.
3.) Warning - If the behavior continued, I wrote their name on the board. This usually met with pleas of their innocence, but was usually enough to curb any further disturbance with minor disruption to the lesson.
4.) Lunch Detention - The second warning earned a check next to the student name, which signaled lunch detention for the next day.
5.) After-school Detention - This very rarely occurred, when a student was completely out of control, I would have them come after-school so that we may discuss the issue further.
If the student received any sort of detention, I would make them write me an apology letter as to why I asked them to come come, and what they could do better the next time.
These behavior strategies, have proved very useful in the middle school level. I have not yet any any classroom management issues at the high school level. I think I would approach it in the same fashion, perhaps without writing their name on the board, but rather slipping them a note to let them know of the warning. I think my biggest classroom management issue that I would have would be implementing discipline at the high school level.
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom management seemed to be more trying at the middle school level when dealing with crazy 7th graders. Most of the high schoolers I have now are pretty relaxed and classroom management is currently (I say currently because I know how fast things change from day to day) not extremely trying. The only time my current students are in need of redirection seems to be during transitions. I'm still getting used to block scheduling, and having all this time for activities is blowing my mind (ha)! I've tried to make good use of the time and have created lessons with multiple activities, and I noticed the only time students are chatty is during these transitions. With a quick redirection they seem to jump right into the next activity with no major issues.
In the middle school, however, classroom management was, at one point, the first thing on my list of worries. It seemed that when the students noticed that my CT was now not in the room anymore they wanted to see how far they could push me. The side conversations definitely started to take over my valuable classtime. For about 2 weeks I tried a new technique every couple of days...1. The long drawn out "this is disrespectful" talk, 2. The "I'll wait for you" technique, 3. Moving seats (which acutally impoved the situation greatly) 4. and finally the "ticket to lunch with Miss Jakob" technique. With all these techniques I found pros and cons, some worked well and some bombed instantly. My final decision was a combination of techniques, as well as, a great deal of advice from my ever knowledgeable CT.
What finally worked...
1. Explained to the students that they are wasting my time...
2. We won't be able to get to the more enjoyable stuff (at this point more enjoyable stuff was using microscopes) if I have to wait for them
3. I will give them 2 minutes either at the beginning or end of class to talk to all their friends in the class "I know this may be the only time you get to see your friends during the day (totally not true but I sound pretty sympathetic) so I will allow you 2 minutes to get all your talking out. After that it is my time to get through the stuff we need to so we can move on. Anyone who feels the need to talk after your 2 minutes is up will be talking to me during lunch, when you could be talking to those friends again"
4. I wrote out quick messages on sticky notes "I'll see you for lunch" and only had to place 1 sticky note in front of 1 student ever, before the rest of the class took the hint.
5. Sticky notes were great because it didn't draw any extra attention to the student already being disruptive and I didn't have to stop what I was doing I would just casually walk by and put down the note ;)
6. When the 1 student came for lunch I kept him for all of 2 minutes and he knew what he was there for. Tip from my CT: just because they have to come see you for lunch doesn't mean you have to keep them the entire time. Those 2 minutes were just enough to inconvinece him to the point where maybe he didn't get a good seat, or he was at the back of the lunch line...just to bug them enough to where they don't want to have to come see you again.
7. I also realized that I had to consistently give up my 2 minutes every class everyday in order for this system to work. To a teacher that 2 minutes seems invaluable but it was much less time wasted then if I had to constantly stop and wait for talking to stop. The students also realized that I was holding up my end of the bargain so they held up theirs...If I forgot the 2 minutes one day they would remind me throughout the class. If I promised to do 4 minutes the next day because we needed the time that day they would not let me forget...a deal is a deal ha and they were always ontop of how many minutes they were owed.
After my 2 weeks of trying things constantly I resolved my classroom management issues. I think that may be the key...try it to see what works. What works with one class may not work with the other, which means there is no magical fix. Taking a hit or miss approach to see what may improve the situaiton is what worked for me.
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Ah.... Classroom Management. I feel like this will be a never ending challenge. All students (or classes) are NOT created equally. Something may work for some students, but not others. Some strategies may work for some teachers, but not for others. Most importantly, Classroom management strategies will not work if they do not coincide with the teacher's personality. Students will notice if it is a stretch for the teacher to employ such stratigies and it will show through with inconsistency and lack of follow-through. I feel every year students are more challenging and harder to engage. It keeps us on our toes, I guess.
Some main Ideas about Classroom Management that I feel are vital are the following:
- Clearly defined standards and expectations that are true to your personality and what you feel is acceptable
- Consistency
- Follow Through
- Sticking to your personality and ideals about managing a classroom and the classroom environment that you feel most appropriate.
If you do all this, I feel classroom management will work.
HOWEVER, I've been stuck in 'the game of student teaching' when it comes to student teaching. My cooperating teacher does things differently in her class than I would normally do. I have not been given the chance to present myself as a teacher more than an extra person in the room. Also, my teacher has expected me to pick up where she left off in a sense of managing the class. This is bad news when it comes to student teaching. I am stuck in a swirling vortex of being uncomfortable and out of control. Basically it is hard to be consistent and follow through when what your doing is crap in your mind.
On the plus side, my students do listen to me, and once I get going they pay full attention to me. I'm not sure I can get out of this game, but I will be ever trying. If my teacher starts to leave the room, perhaps I can establish a sense of authority.
What I have Tried
Why it worked
Why it didn't work
1. Yelling to get the students' attention
The shock factor: "WOW Ms. Leigh just yelled.
The shock factor didn't last, nor did the students care that they were supposed to fix their behavior. It is also out of my comfort zone. So I didn't do it most of the time.
2. Waiting for students to notice me with annoyed look
students knew I meant buisness, and realized I wasn't impressed with their behavior.
The true talkers were in their own little world and don't notice. For those I'd have to call their names specifically to redirect them.
3. Removing students from my class
It sent the message that I will follow through.
It's disruptive and embarrassing for the student. If I did it consistently, I'd never have a class. I've had a lot of talkers and a lot of students that really don't mind being kicked out. Then there is the whole thing where students miss the material.
4. Silent cues
Moving through the room and tapping on a students desk while I'm talking or giving them a look sends the message without disrupting what I am doing or making a scene in the class. Works well for one or two students being disruptive here and there.
Some students have verbal diharrea and really don't know what to stop talking.
5. Predetermining groups.
I would assign groups so that friends and talkers are not together. I'd pair a talker with a non talker and whom ever else I thought would contribute well.
Sometimes making groups ahead of time isn't convenient, so I'd resort to the count off method. I'd make this work by redirecting the counting to avoid certain students being in the same group. but I couldn't always avoid pairing to behavior problems.
If I master my skills and solve all these problems: Students will have a set routine that they will know to follow. Seats will be arranged to foster and open style classroom with seats assigned to minimize behaviors. Activities will also be tailors to keep students engaged. We all know students misbehave most when they are bored and unengaged. Students will know the expectations and consequences from the very first day of the class and consequences will be followed through. I will scaffold silent clues for the students to try and aviod class disruptions.
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Some classroom challenges that I have had in my experience so far is getting students to remain seated throughout an entire 90 minute class period. I have students that literally cannot stay seated for that long and need to stand up, walk around, or do something kinetically. Some techniques that I have used to combat this are having activities where the students have to get up and physically do something, whether it be to act something out, or do stations around the room. Another thing I do to combat this issue is to let the students "get up and stretch." I find this gives them 2-5 minutes to stretch their legs, do what they need to do (go to the bathroom or get a drink) without disrupting class time.
Another classroom management challenge I had at the beginning of the year and have improved upon, is the closing of my class. At the end of the period, students tend to want to get up, pack up early, stand by the door, etc. To combat this issue I have made clear to the students my expectations of them: to remain seated with your material out and working until the bell rings. The students now understand, by making my expectations clear to them, that I dismiss them, not the bell, and that they are to remain seated until I dismiss them. I think that it is important to make your rules and expectations clear to students, so they know how to act. Also to combat this issue, I make sure I have enough activities planned, usually I overplan, to fill the entire 90 minute class period. This keeps the students engaged the entire time. The homework is always written on the board at the beginning of class, so if they have time remaining, the students can always start their homework.
After these classroom management issues are solved, my classroom and lesson plans will run more smoothly. More work will get accomplished and more learning will take place. This is the very reason why classroom management is so important.
What are some management problems in your student teaching. What are some techniques used to offset these behaviors.
1) One problem I have is in my freshman earth science period. There are some students that talk out loud and have outbursts. I respond by asking them if they would like to take a visit to the vice prinicpal's office. They state no and then stop their outbusts. However, this dpes not last for long. Eventually they will start having outbursts again. I have sent one of the students to the vice principal's office. Some days are better than others. I feel the students behave well when I force them to write down notes or engage them with an exicting video clip. They need to be doing something ebery minute. If not, there will be outbursts.
2) There is a student in my biology course that consistently talks to other students. After several warnings, he still talks to other students. One day he came in late and he sat at one of the table by himself. He did not talk to anyone and subsequently there were no disruptions. I told him to stay at the table and take notes from there. He subsequently has not been a distraction to other students, himself, and me.
One challenge is that transitioning between topics can sometimes waste time as the students begin talking in between activities. Transitioning between activities is sometimes difficult because many of the students work at different paces and it can be hard to get everyone on the same page. When we begin to change an activity the students feel like they can talk and try to waste some time. I've found that having a time limit for activities has helped as well as walking around the room during a change in activity.
Another challenge is that there is are a few students that are very talkative. At first the students were very talkative and my teacher suggested that I move people seats which seemed to help. Since then the students have become more comfortable with the students that they didn't know so well before and began to talk more. With these students I tend to call on them or say their name in the middle of talking to the class to get their attention. I also walk over and stand next to the groups.
A third challenge is that I have a few students that get restless and need to walk around. I allow these students to get up at times just because they cannot sit for the whole class period. I also allow these students to use the stamps to stamp the homework to get them involved in the classroom activities.
When all of these problems are solved the classroom period will go more smoothly and flow better from activity to activity. The students will have a better routine and know what to expect which will help them to feel comfortable.
Classroom management is a tricky topic. The strategies used in the middle school and the high school are similar but obviously some work in the middle school and not the high school and vice versa. One strategy I have used in both the middle and high schools is the "wait for students to notice I am waiting for them to stop talking" method. Once there are a few side conversations, I will stop talking and wait for the students to re-focus. I usually try to give a semi-annoyed look too. At this point one of two things happen: a few students will usually tell the other students who are talking to be quiet and they listen, or they continue to talk. If they are continuing to talk, then I try and finish what I am saying but pausing part way through my sentence so students get the 'hint' that I am talking and they are interrupting me. This usually works and if it doesn't then I walk over to the students who are talking [while I am still talking] and use their name in what I'm talking about [Right, Michael?]. Again if this doesn't work then I tell the students that they need to stop talking and be quiet and that we will be getting a chance to move around and talk quietly shortly. This is difficult for me because if one student continues to talk after many warnings/or they talk back in a disrespectful manner, I know I need to send the student out to the AP's office and I need to work on if I make a 'threat' that they will be thrown out, I need to follow up on it.
I also tend to feel sympathetic towards the students and say 'stick with me' and 'hang in there' to keep them focused but what I tend to forget is that they are at school to LEARN! If I am telling them 'stick with me' it puts a negative connotation on my lesson and I love what I am teaching so it makes the students become less interested in the lesson and that it could actually be very interesting. I have been trying to say things like 'lets get refocused' or 'lets get back on track' if students have become sidetracked.
I know a lot of my management techniques will become perfected over time because I will have tried numerous amounts of strategies and eventually find some things that are successful! Once I do there will be a nice flow to the classroom and a great fair, respectful relationship with my students.
Classroom Management has not been a major issue for my classes. I can attribute this to teaching 3 Honors level classes and 1 College Prep class who are full of students that are ready and able to learn. I take partial responsibility for keeping the students engaged and active at all times through student-centered learning, project-based learning or inquiry activities.
The extent of the issues I have dealt with is excessive talking and one particular student addressing the class with "Why do we have to do this, this is not important, it is so stupid that I have to be here."
Situation 1: Excessive Talking.
During transitions from a discussion to an activity or on occasion (Particularly on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon), students will be animated and extra chatty. I typically use a variety of techniques to nip this in the bud if it becomes disruptive.
A. Stop what I am doing, stand in silence waiting for the student to finish their conversation. Typically, one student will speak up and tell them to "shhhhhh" without me having to do a single thing.
B. I will walk around the class room during discussion and give a quick tap on the desk or on the back to stop the situation without brining any attention to the students
C. If I am in the middle of speaking or facilitating a class discussion, I will stop the chatter by asking a question to the student who is chatterig
D. I will ignore the students, talk a little louder and this appears to alarm the students
E. I am constantly moving around the classroom so I am often stopping at the group stations and asking questions about their progress to get them on track
F. At times depending on the student, I will chime in on their conversation, tell them its facinating but I expect them to only speak about biology on my watch
G. If the talking is excessive, I simply ask the class, "What is my rule?" At the beginning of teaching, I went over the rules which my most important rule was "If someone is talking, we show them respect by listening and not talking over them" ---This appears to work very quickly.
Situation 2: The student who is known for being obnoxious to most teachers and disruptive in classes "Why do I have to be here, this is stupid, I would rather take notes then do projects"
1. I announced to the class "Why do I have to be here" and turned this into a discussion about why the topic of antibiotic resistance is relevant to our lifes...his comment was a great segway.
2. After I still saw him rolling his eyes......I decided to put a bonus question on the test 2 days later which asked a series of math calculations that described "how much money a student gets paid to attend and pass my biology class"
I have not had an issue since.
I have been told numerous times by my CT's that my classroom management skills are extremely good for a beginning teacher. I do believe this as well, however, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Some classroom management skills that I believe I can improve upon is "staying on topic" when students ask questions. Most of the time, I try so hard to answer a students questions that I lose valuable time in the period trying to explain myself in a more specific (and unnecessary) way. What I have tried to do to combat this problem of mine is by not answering their question IMMEDIATELY after the student asks it. I give myself a few moments to collect my thought and understand what the student is asking. Once I have formulated an answer that I am confident in I then go into my brief explanation of the question. If a student still does not understand what I am trying to explain, and I feel that we must move on with the class in order to stay on schedule, I politely ask them to see me after class for a deeper explanation. I of course give them a pass to their next period if they are late.
A second classroom management skill that I believe could use improvement in is anticipating students questions before they ask them. Sometimes I am caught off guard at the "imagination" that my 6th graders have and the creative questions that they think of (questions I would never think of in a million years!). What I have been trying to do for this is "think like a 6th grader" (as silly as that sounds). I literally go through my lesson plans trying to put myself in their place, thinking of different "unorthodox" questions that I could be asked. I then right down the questions I think of and the answers to them. Of course this is not 100% effective because the thoughts of a 6th grader can only truly be harnessed by an actual 6th grader, but it has absolutely helped me in the long run.
A classroom where classroom management problems have been "solved" is a classroom that runs extremely smoothly. Transitions into new subjects/activities are quick and with ease. Questions are answered brief and to the point. Students leave the classroom with a full knowledge of what was trying to be explained. And of course, there are NO disruptions or "down time" during the class period. However, that is in a perfect world, a world that does not exist. We as teachers strive for that perfection but will never reach it. Why? Because science is perfect. Science is meant to be messy, especially biology and thats what I love about it.
Prevention
For starters, if the lesson isn't interesting, I can guarantee that there will be classroom management issues. I've noticed in the middle school that student engagement was crucial to encouraging positive behavior. Students did not like to be talked to about science, but rather, enjoyed a discussion of science. Soliciting their feedback on concepts and ideas is a good way to ensure that they are paying attention and not starting a paper airplane war in the back of the class. In order to succeed at this, the lesson needed to be relevant to them or at least connected to them in some way (a lot of times this is easier said than done.) It is also in the nature of the adolescent to want to move around, so I incorporated a few activities in which they got to do that. It gave them time to stretch their legs and socialize, which is very much appreciated in middle school as well as high school.
Intervention
Like anything though, bad classroom behavior is bound to occur, and it might not have anything to do with your lesson. It might have to do with something that happened that morning in another class or something totally unrelated to school. The key here is to create as little disturbance as possible. Steps that I chose to use for intervention were:
1.) Eye contact - I let the student know I was aware of their behavior and it was consider a warning for them to stop.
2.) Proximity - If the issue continued I would move closer to the student or students to signal that I did not appreciate them interrupting the lesson.
3.) Warning - If the behavior continued, I wrote their name on the board. This usually met with pleas of their innocence, but was usually enough to curb any further disturbance with minor disruption to the lesson.
4.) Lunch Detention - The second warning earned a check next to the student name, which signaled lunch detention for the next day.
5.) After-school Detention - This very rarely occurred, when a student was completely out of control, I would have them come after-school so that we may discuss the issue further.
If the student received any sort of detention, I would make them write me an apology letter as to why I asked them to come come, and what they could do better the next time.
These behavior strategies, have proved very useful in the middle school level. I have not yet any any classroom management issues at the high school level. I think I would approach it in the same fashion, perhaps without writing their name on the board, but rather slipping them a note to let them know of the warning. I think my biggest classroom management issue that I would have would be implementing discipline at the high school level.
RJ06 -Reflective Journal Entry 6
With the end it sight, it is useful to reflect on areas of your teaching that we can address in class. Classroom management seems to be an issue that many of you are concerned about. Classroom management is also a big topic. List two to three management challenges you are are trying to improve at this time. Briefly describe some of the techniques that you have already tried. Describe what a class period will look like when these problems are "solved."
Classroom management seemed to be more trying at the middle school level when dealing with crazy 7th graders. Most of the high schoolers I have now are pretty relaxed and classroom management is currently (I say currently because I know how fast things change from day to day) not extremely trying. The only time my current students are in need of redirection seems to be during transitions. I'm still getting used to block scheduling, and having all this time for activities is blowing my mind (ha)! I've tried to make good use of the time and have created lessons with multiple activities, and I noticed the only time students are chatty is during these transitions. With a quick redirection they seem to jump right into the next activity with no major issues.
In the middle school, however, classroom management was, at one point, the first thing on my list of worries. It seemed that when the students noticed that my CT was now not in the room anymore they wanted to see how far they could push me. The side conversations definitely started to take over my valuable classtime. For about 2 weeks I tried a new technique every couple of days...1. The long drawn out "this is disrespectful" talk, 2. The "I'll wait for you" technique, 3. Moving seats (which acutally impoved the situation greatly) 4. and finally the "ticket to lunch with Miss Jakob" technique. With all these techniques I found pros and cons, some worked well and some bombed instantly. My final decision was a combination of techniques, as well as, a great deal of advice from my ever knowledgeable CT.
What finally worked...
1. Explained to the students that they are wasting my time...
2. We won't be able to get to the more enjoyable stuff (at this point more enjoyable stuff was using microscopes) if I have to wait for them
3. I will give them 2 minutes either at the beginning or end of class to talk to all their friends in the class "I know this may be the only time you get to see your friends during the day (totally not true but I sound pretty sympathetic) so I will allow you 2 minutes to get all your talking out. After that it is my time to get through the stuff we need to so we can move on. Anyone who feels the need to talk after your 2 minutes is up will be talking to me during lunch, when you could be talking to those friends again"
4. I wrote out quick messages on sticky notes "I'll see you for lunch" and only had to place 1 sticky note in front of 1 student ever, before the rest of the class took the hint.
5. Sticky notes were great because it didn't draw any extra attention to the student already being disruptive and I didn't have to stop what I was doing I would just casually walk by and put down the note ;)
6. When the 1 student came for lunch I kept him for all of 2 minutes and he knew what he was there for. Tip from my CT: just because they have to come see you for lunch doesn't mean you have to keep them the entire time. Those 2 minutes were just enough to inconvinece him to the point where maybe he didn't get a good seat, or he was at the back of the lunch line...just to bug them enough to where they don't want to have to come see you again.
7. I also realized that I had to consistently give up my 2 minutes every class everyday in order for this system to work. To a teacher that 2 minutes seems invaluable but it was much less time wasted then if I had to constantly stop and wait for talking to stop. The students also realized that I was holding up my end of the bargain so they held up theirs...If I forgot the 2 minutes one day they would remind me throughout the class. If I promised to do 4 minutes the next day because we needed the time that day they would not let me forget...a deal is a deal ha and they were always ontop of how many minutes they were owed.
After my 2 weeks of trying things constantly I resolved my classroom management issues. I think that may be the key...try it to see what works. What works with one class may not work with the other, which means there is no magical fix. Taking a hit or miss approach to see what may improve the situaiton is what worked for me.
Ah.... Classroom Management. I feel like this will be a never ending challenge. All students (or classes) are NOT created equally. Something may work for some students, but not others. Some strategies may work for some teachers, but not for others. Most importantly, Classroom management strategies will not work if they do not coincide with the teacher's personality. Students will notice if it is a stretch for the teacher to employ such stratigies and it will show through with inconsistency and lack of follow-through. I feel every year students are more challenging and harder to engage. It keeps us on our toes, I guess.
Some main Ideas about Classroom Management that I feel are vital are the following:
- Clearly defined standards and expectations that are true to your personality and what you feel is acceptable
- Consistency
- Follow Through
- Sticking to your personality and ideals about managing a classroom and the classroom environment that you feel most appropriate.
If you do all this, I feel classroom management will work.
HOWEVER, I've been stuck in 'the game of student teaching' when it comes to student teaching. My cooperating teacher does things differently in her class than I would normally do. I have not been given the chance to present myself as a teacher more than an extra person in the room. Also, my teacher has expected me to pick up where she left off in a sense of managing the class. This is bad news when it comes to student teaching. I am stuck in a swirling vortex of being uncomfortable and out of control. Basically it is hard to be consistent and follow through when what your doing is crap in your mind.
On the plus side, my students do listen to me, and once I get going they pay full attention to me. I'm not sure I can get out of this game, but I will be ever trying. If my teacher starts to leave the room, perhaps I can establish a sense of authority.
If I master my skills and solve all these problems: Students will have a set routine that they will know to follow. Seats will be arranged to foster and open style classroom with seats assigned to minimize behaviors. Activities will also be tailors to keep students engaged. We all know students misbehave most when they are bored and unengaged. Students will know the expectations and consequences from the very first day of the class and consequences will be followed through. I will scaffold silent clues for the students to try and aviod class disruptions.
Some classroom challenges that I have had in my experience so far is getting students to remain seated throughout an entire 90 minute class period. I have students that literally cannot stay seated for that long and need to stand up, walk around, or do something kinetically. Some techniques that I have used to combat this are having activities where the students have to get up and physically do something, whether it be to act something out, or do stations around the room. Another thing I do to combat this issue is to let the students "get up and stretch." I find this gives them 2-5 minutes to stretch their legs, do what they need to do (go to the bathroom or get a drink) without disrupting class time.
Another classroom management challenge I had at the beginning of the year and have improved upon, is the closing of my class. At the end of the period, students tend to want to get up, pack up early, stand by the door, etc. To combat this issue I have made clear to the students my expectations of them: to remain seated with your material out and working until the bell rings. The students now understand, by making my expectations clear to them, that I dismiss them, not the bell, and that they are to remain seated until I dismiss them. I think that it is important to make your rules and expectations clear to students, so they know how to act. Also to combat this issue, I make sure I have enough activities planned, usually I overplan, to fill the entire 90 minute class period. This keeps the students engaged the entire time. The homework is always written on the board at the beginning of class, so if they have time remaining, the students can always start their homework.
After these classroom management issues are solved, my classroom and lesson plans will run more smoothly. More work will get accomplished and more learning will take place. This is the very reason why classroom management is so important.
1) One problem I have is in my freshman earth science period. There are some students that talk out loud and have outbursts. I respond by asking them if they would like to take a visit to the vice prinicpal's office. They state no and then stop their outbusts. However, this dpes not last for long. Eventually they will start having outbursts again. I have sent one of the students to the vice principal's office. Some days are better than others. I feel the students behave well when I force them to write down notes or engage them with an exicting video clip. They need to be doing something ebery minute. If not, there will be outbursts.
2) There is a student in my biology course that consistently talks to other students. After several warnings, he still talks to other students. One day he came in late and he sat at one of the table by himself. He did not talk to anyone and subsequently there were no disruptions. I told him to stay at the table and take notes from there. He subsequently has not been a distraction to other students, himself, and me.
Another challenge is that there is are a few students that are very talkative. At first the students were very talkative and my teacher suggested that I move people seats which seemed to help. Since then the students have become more comfortable with the students that they didn't know so well before and began to talk more. With these students I tend to call on them or say their name in the middle of talking to the class to get their attention. I also walk over and stand next to the groups.
A third challenge is that I have a few students that get restless and need to walk around. I allow these students to get up at times just because they cannot sit for the whole class period. I also allow these students to use the stamps to stamp the homework to get them involved in the classroom activities.
When all of these problems are solved the classroom period will go more smoothly and flow better from activity to activity. The students will have a better routine and know what to expect which will help them to feel comfortable.